Middlesbrough lead Swansea by 2 points at the top
Middlesbrough have 25 points from 12 games, Swansea sit on 23, and the gap at the summit of the Championship is 2.
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Two points. That is all that separates Middlesbrough from Swansea after 12 matches of the Championship, and it is the sort of margin that makes every result at the top feel heavier than it should.
Middlesbrough lead on 25, built on 7 wins, 4 draws and a single defeat. They have scored 27 and conceded 17, a goal difference of 10. The form line reads D, W, W, D, W — three wins and two draws from five, unbeaten, and a current run of 1W.
Swansea are the opposite story. Same 7 victories, but only 2 draws against 3 losses, and that shortage of stalemates is exactly why they trail. 16 scored, 13 conceded, 3 overall. Their last five went W, W, W, L, L: three straight wins, then two straight defeats. They are on 2L.
Look at the away columns and the shape of the table changes. Swansea have won 8 on the road but lost 7, a split that reads like a side that either takes all three or nothing. Middlesbrough have lost 4 away and 3 at home across a far longer sample. One team gambles. The other grinds.
Behind them, nobody is comfortable. West Ham have 22 points and a goal difference of +17, Wolverhampton 21, West Brom 21, Southampton 20. The West Ham goal difference is better than the leaders' by seven. Points, though, are points.
Up front, William Lankshear has 11 for Middlesbrough, clear of Andri Guðjohnsen on 8 and Cyle Larin on 7.
The Championship returns on Friday 30 October, with Sheffield Utd and Wrexham the fixtures on the card. Two points is nothing. Two points is also everything when the chasing side keeps losing the games it should draw.